Dual-language programs prove successful

On a Wednesday morning, 17 students in Pedro Ortiz’s fourth-grade class sit in a circle on a rug displaying a world map, reading from composition notebooks. They’re talking about spaceships. A girl raises her hand to contribute, then pauses, trying to think of how to say “taking off” in Spanish.

This scene is commonplace at Carrboro Elementary School, where students can spend half the day learning about everything from rockets to writing skills completely in Spanish.

“I love the culture of our school,” said fourth-grade teacher Kendall Brees, who teaches dual language students during the English half of the school day.

Experiences like this have proved beneficial for young students. In March, VIF International Education, a Chapel Hill-based nonprofit that develops global education programs, released results from an evaluation by UNC’s Education Policy Initiative at Carolina.

The study found that students participating in VIF’s foreign language immersion program scored higher on state End-of-Grade tests than students not in the program, regardless of economic status, English proficiency or ethnicity.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools has a partnership with VIF, allowing them to bring in teachers from other countries to teach their language, said Elaine Watson-Grant, dual language coordinator for the school system.

CHCCS has its own dual language program, and its strategy has had positive results as well. A 2010 report on North Carolina dual language programs by Thomas & Collier research firm showed that students in dual language programs performed better on End-of-Grade reading and math exams than their non-dual language peers. The study included Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.

There was still an achievement gap — students with limited English proficiency and African-American students achieved at lower levels than other students, but the gap was smaller for students in the dual language program.

Watson-Grant said CHCCS’ own dual language immersion programs create an atmosphere that promotes achievement for all kinds of students.

“I think the first thing is community,” she said. “There’s a very tight knit community within the school. It’s like they’re on an island and the tool of exchange, the currency, is language.”

She said this bridges the gap between native English speakers and non-native English speakers by letting them rely on and serve as models for one another.

Brees said she noticed this kind of unity among her students.

“I have kids who live in the little trailer park and kids who live in half-million dollar homes, and there’s no difference,” she said. “They work together very well.”

Two other district elementary schools — Glenwood Elementary School and Frank Porter Graham Elementary — offer dual language programs, where students spend at least half of every day learning in Spanish, French, or Chinese.

“I have really enjoyed teaching in the program and think it is a wonderful opportunity for young children to learn a new language and culture,” Glenwood Elementary first-grade dual language teacher Karen Smith said in an email.

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